Colin campbell mcphee



(No Model.)

C. C. MCPHEE.

LETTER CLIP. No. 590,273. Patented Sept. 21,1897.

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WITNESSES.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

COLIN CAMPBELL MCPHEE, OF CHATHAM, CANADA.

LETTER-CLIP.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 590,273, datedSeptember 21, 1897.

Application tiled February 24:, 1896. Serial No. 580,601. (No'model.)

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Be it known that I, COLIN CAMPBELL Mo- PHEE, a subject of the Queen ofGreat Britain, residing in the city of Chatham, in the county of Kent,in the Province of Ontario and Dominion of Canada, have invented a newand useful Letter-Clip, and I do hereby declare that the following is afull, clear, and exact description of the same.

My invention relates to improvements in letter-clips by which aspring-plate having upturned lugs and claws bent downward, engaging witha pair of handle-bars containing and operating a traveling roller, thesaid spring-plate being secured to any suitable base-board for thepurpose of receiving letters and holding them firmly in place andproviding an easy removal of any one or all of the said letters; and theobject of my improvement is, rst, to facilitate the introduction ofletters into the clip; secondly, to hold all letters iirmly in theirplace that have already been inserted while successive letters are beingintroduced; thirdly, to admit of any one of the letters being removedwithout displacing the others; fonrthly, this device being aself-ejector, to admit of all the letters being taken out and the readyreplacement of the same, and, iifthly, to receive any width of paper. Iattain these objects by the device illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, in which- Figure l is a side view of the device, showingposition of the parts while clip is down at rest. Fig. 2 is a side viewof the device, showing position of the parts when the clip is up and theroller is under pressure of the clip. Fig. 3 is a perspective view ofthe entire device at rest. Fig. 4 is a vertical longitudinal sectionshowing the handle-bars reversed for the purpose of removing theletters.

Similar letters refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

The clip consists of any suitable base-board A, to one end of which isattached the spring-l plate B. This spring-plate B is cut, shaped, andbent so that the two raised lugs a, d are formed, as are also the twodownwardly-bent claws c c, an angle being formed at the junction of theupright lugs d d and the bent claws c c. Hinged on the bar E, that issecured to the upright lugs d a at c e, are the handle- 1 bars d d,which are an extension of the handle D from the angle at bearings ff',the elongated spindle or axle g engaging with the spindle g, androtating on same is the traveling roller F. The handle D forms a loopfrom bearingf to f. v

The method of voperating is as follows: The letter to be filed isinserted beneath the roller and passed up into the angles formed at thejunction of lugs and claws, the downward pressure being put on handle D.The roller F acts as a movable fulcrum, so that the claws c c ofspring-plate B are raised gradually as roller and extended axle g passforward, feeding the letter in beneath. So soon as letter has escapedthe claws c c and is rolled beneath the pressure is removed fromhandlebar D and all the parts revert to their former position. The angleformed by the handlebars d d and handle D is an obtuse angle, so thatthe 'spring nature of plate caused the immediate return of roller uponremoval of pressure, as the bars never become perpendicular tobase-board. The removal of pressure upon roller` which engages theletter is always concordant with the return of claws upon the letter, sothat it will be readily seen that either claws or roller engage insertedletters continuously to the full extent of the springplate. The clawswhile at rest and the roller while in process of introduction form acontinuous clamp, so that no matter if clip be suspended upon a wall thealready-inserted letters are fully and firmly held in their placewithout falling out while additional letters are being introduced. Byreversing the Inotion for inserting letters and passing the handle Dover the lugs d d the open ends ofl the handle-bars d d are brought incontact with the base-board, and as the motion is continued these endsagain form another movable fulcrum, which as they go downward from topof clip gradually raise claws c c, and as these bars approach an almostperpendicular position they can be allowed to remain in that position,having claws c c raised, so that any letter or letters can be selectedand removed and the remaining ones rengaged by claws as ends of bars d dare returned by reverse motion, or, if it is desirable t0. remove allthe letters from beneath claws, instead of reversing this motion it canbe continued until al1 IOO Io lugs a, a, and engaging with the roller Ffor the purpose of engaging the papers as they are oered and for feedingthem beneath claws c, 0, and also for holding all previously-insertedpapers from dropping out during the insertion of the last paper,substantially as 15 specified and set forth.

COLIN CAMPBELL MCPHEE. Witnesses: T. J. RU'rLEY, W. J RUTLEY.

